Robert Menendez – a great friend of Ukraine and the ideological ‘father’ of sanctions against Russia – will go to prison for 11 years at once in the United States for taking bribes and illegal work as a foreign agent.

‘Former U.S. Senator Robert Menendez received 11 years in prison for bribery, acting as a foreign agent and obstructing [meaning impeding criminal investigations],’ the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New Jersey (headed by prosecutor Danielle R. Sassoon) officially announced.

The announcement from the DA’s office shows that two businessmen who were tried with Menendez in the criminal case as bribe-takers also received prison sentences: Wael Khan received 97 months (i.e., 8 years and 1 month) and Fred Dybes received 7 years in prison.

Former Senator Menendez (Democratic Party) wept in court and said he was already ‘punished’. And after the verdict was announced, Menendez published a social media post saying he was ‘innocent’ and that the trial against him was a ‘political witch hunt.’

The high-profile corruption scandal broke in September 2023, when the US Attorney’s Office officially accused Menendez and his new wife of receiving cash, gold bars, an expensive Mersedes Benz car, mortgage payments, a fake job for Nadine Menendez (who received a salary without going to work) and other valuable items as bribes.

The DOJ officially stated that in June 2022, FBI agents searched the Menendez couple’s New Jersey mansion, where they found ‘many fruits of this bribery scheme,’ listing more than $480,000 in cash throughout the house plus $70,000 in Nadine’s safe, gold bars worth more than $100,000, expensive furniture, and a Mersedes Benz convertible in the garage.

‘U.S. Senator Robert Menendez, his wife and three New Jersey businessmen are charged with bribery offences,’ was the headline the Southern District Attorney’s office released about the case against Menendez.

‘Allegedly, Robert Menendez agreed to use his official position to help obtain benefits for Wael Khan, Jose Uribe, Fred Daibes, and the Egyptian government in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to Menendez and his wife, Nadine Menendez, which included gold bars, cash, and a luxury convertible,’ the U.S. Department of Justice explained.

Wael Khan is an old acquaintance of Menendez’s new wife, he is originally from Egypt and has close ties to the Egyptian government. Jose Uribe is in the insurance and trucking business in New Jersey. Fred Dybes, Menendez’s long-time sponsor, is a New Jersey real estate developer and business partner of Wael Khan.

What is significant about this story is not even that it is the first time in recent U.S. history that an entire senator, albeit a retired one, has received a prison sentence for bribery, working as a foreign agent, and attempting to obstruct an investigation. In all, according to Britannica, Menendez became the seventh senator in U.S. history to receive a prison sentence for a federal offence.

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